Archive for Ian Hughes

This is a great time of year for a quick getaway. The weather is holding quite nicely with crisp mornings and reasonably warm afternoons and, because the schools have gone back, prices are affordable. But who wants to stay in some boring corporate hotel,...

It’s good to dream. It’s good to have aspirations. We probably all want to be better people, or happier, or more successful, or just plain richer. That’s OK. That’s healthy. In moderation. Or maybe you’ve set your sights much, much higher. You’re...

Staying current can be challenging, especially when it comes to fashion. Let’s face it: we’re all busy people. Taking time to research the latest trends and explore the best shops is a real luxury for many people. And if you want some style advice...

I think we can all agree that Big Data is a big deal. Really big. But just how big? And should we be worried? We know that there are scare stories about how much personal information is being shared on an hourly basis, but that's usually through choice,...

The release of iOS8 has thrown up lots of things. Perhaps you needed to delete a load of apps and all your pictures to make room for it. Maybe you got caught out and signed up for iCloud Drive before you can actually use it on any of your other devices,...

Is it just us, or has it been a really long week? So much going on. New gadgets, trade shows, high street closures, historic referendums. You’ve probably had a load of meetings or lectures and a to-do list as long as your arm too. And let’s not forget...

We all do it. We sign up to these apps, sites and schemes to save money, without giving it a second thought. Things like Groupon, Vouchercloud and countless others we could name (many of which we’ve featured right here over the years) make it easy...

Imagine a place where you could go with those nagging questions. The ones that keep you awake just a little later than you’d like. The ones that get you and your friends into heated discussions around the water cooler or pub table. Well, you might think...

Where you buy your food is one of the most personal decisions you can make. Supermarkets are fast, convenient, and usually the more affordable option. And they deliver. Independent, local shops will generally have better produce and better customer service,...

How do you choose the clothes that you buy? Do you slavishly scour the pages of the glossy lifestyle magazines making notes on all the current trends and must-have labels? Or do you pound the streets looking in every fashion store to see what they’re...

This week, the unthinkable has happened for millions of people. No, not another series of Britain’s Got Talent. Worse than that. Five million Gmail addresses were published, along with their account passwords. Some shady Russian hackers’ blog decided...

Yesterday, it was a new messaging service we thought you might like. Today, why not go the whole hog and try a new social network? Not too many people make any money from bobbing around in Twitter or Facebook, but at bubblews.com, you have an opportunity...

Yeah, just what you need - another messaging service right? Well, perhaps, yes. There’s been a bit of a backlash against some messaging services recently, with concerns (as ever) about privacy and the selling on of data. And perhaps some players are...

Every now and again, we come across an online achievement so remarkable, that we just have to, er, remark on it. And this is such a case. Kalev Leetaru is an American academic from Georgetown University in Washington DC, and at the flickr.com stream...

So, what makes a great website? Dazzling graphics? A witty tone of voice? Smooth navigation and effortless mobile optimisation? All of these maybe, but at the heart of every great website is a great idea. Whether it’s an innovative new product, a worthwhile...

OK. So sometimes the sites we recommend here aren't always the next big thing, as suggested. But we always try to find legitimate sites to talk about. But how do we know they’re on the up-and-up? You can probably imagine just how many tips and "hot"...

So, normal life resumes. The kids are back at school, the price of a holiday has dropped dramatically, and the commute is back to standing room only. But one group of people who are probably more than a little relieved are the stay-at-home parents who...

As the new school year starts, a whole new generation of parents are going through the trauma of having to surrender their children to The System. It can be tough, particularly for those parents who have successfully steered their offspring on a particular...

May we present a potentially life changing recommendation: boojabooja.com? Why is it so significant? Because, as you might recall, we love chocolate over here at Pocket-Lint. We’re connoisseurs. Experts. Fanatics, when it comes to the cocoa-based confectionary...

The ice bucket challenge. What a thing. There’s no way you could’ve missed it, unless you’ve been on Pluto for the past month, and it’s showing no signs of going anywhere soon. It’s possibly the most successful online charity activity we’ve...

The humble emoticon is something of a phenomenon, isn’t it? Its most modern incarnation, the emoji, is ubiquitous, to say the least. Even email clients will now display them, which makes us wonder how they go down in some corporate environments. But...

It’s fair to say that the world has gone cycling crazy. You can credit the Olympics, the Tour de France, environmental awareness, fitness concerns, whatever. It doesn’t matter what the explanation is, more people than ever are getting around on two...

Do you remember the names Vitaliy Raskalov and Vadim Makhorov? They’re the two Russian thrill seekers who climbed the incredible Shanghai Tower last year and posted a video of their exploits. It got millions of hits online and established the pair...

We've talked a bit about citizen journalism, with ideas on where and how to get your words and pictures seen by a wider audience. But over the last couple of years things have changed dramatically. You won't go too far in the mainstream media now without...

Hackers. They're the dark forces that the media loves to portray as lurking behind the bedroom curtains of suburban houses, subverting corporate greed and plotting the downfall of civilisation as we know it. Or, if you prefer, they’re people who just...